I am new to the industry, and I know there is a lot of water left to tread before I find my own sweet little island. However, because of POMA and the commitment and conviction of its founding members, I now have more confidence and better tools than I could have imagined receiving from any other source. For any new or struggling outdoor writer, photographer or outdoor content provider, “The best advice I can give is to join up with POMA. There is nothing else I can tell you that will help you more than that”.

POMA is amazing. The responsiveness to member needs is unheralded among professional organizations. POMA listens to our clients’ needs and reacts to them. POMA’s commitment to the industry shows at every conference. Our clients can’t afford to not be at the conference each year.

POMA generates income for me on an almost weekly basis, in a strange way.

Most members use Money Line as a job and freelance opportunity listing. I use it to generate editorial content ideas, especially for business/trade content buyers. Job listings offer tons of information about challenges faced by companies in our industry. I use those challenges as a basis to develop story ideas to pitch to editors/buyers. Thanks POMA for all you do!

Two months after going full time as a writer I joined POMA and attended their convention in Ogden. POMA has helped me make a lot of good contacts, writing and Pro-staff deals. I don’t see how you can go wrong by joining. If you want to write part-time, it will make you a better writer. If you want to go full-time, you’ll make more contacts. You still have to hustle hard but POMA has been a big blessing for me.

I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate our membership in POMA. I thought you might like to hear a great example of why it is important for companies like mine to support you.

John Phillips has a new book, with a second volume already being worked on, that teaches people How to Hunt Big Bucks on Small Properties. He has realized from our conversations over the years at conferences that MyTopo's private land data, which provides property owner names and boundaries on smart phones and printed maps, goes hand-in-hand with this type of hunting.

Consequently, John is recommending his readers visit www.mytopo.com to get their digital and print private land maps. And, in turn, I am recommending to all MyTopo customers to buy and read his book.

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to come to the conferences and meet writers and get to know them. The ones who are actively writing are great about learning how MyTopo can help them with any mapping needs they have personally or professionally and incorporating us into stories whenever possible.

As I was writing this, John called to set up a taped interview tomorrow for an article he is doing about hunting on public lands! Isn't that awesome?

Thank you for doing all the behind-the-scenes work to bring writers and companies like mine together.

Sincerely,

PaigePaige DardenMyTopo, a Trimble Company

Paige Darden
MyTopo

I was stuck in a rookie outdoor writer rut. I needed encouragement from my peers, guidance from leading experts, and a mentor who genuinely cared if I succeed or failed. So, I joined POMA. Being welcomed with a smile and handshake followed by the question "What can we do for you?" has changed my career. Within four weeks, I landed a regular column assignment and five feature assignments that resulted in a great paycheck. Thanks POMA for giving me the tools I needed to take my career to the next level.

I have 7 articles publishing this week due to my association with POMA. Not to mention the numerous business opportunities from people that I have met. Just last week a company that I wanted to do some business with automatically jumped on board when he heard that I was a POMA member. I can't even begin to tell you how much business I did just this week due to my POMA connections.